Page:Ned Wilding's Disappearance.djvu/29



" say you boys has got grit," remarked Jim, as the wagon lurched along, pitching like a ship in a storm because of the rough road.

"Why?" asked Bart.

"Leavin' your comfortable homes an' comin' out to a wilderness in winter. Land! I'd no more think of doin' it than I would of flyin'."

"Didn't you do such things when you were young?" asked Fenn.

"Never had no time," the expressman said. "When I got a few days off I had t' go t' th' woods an' chop cord-wood or tap trees for maple syrup."

They jogged along for another mile or so, the road getting more and more rough as they progressed.

"Don't believe I can take you any farther," said Jim, as he brought his wagon to a stop before a big bog-hole. For the last mile the road was "corduroy," that is, made by laying small logs